


Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya

by Cheesecloth



Series: Asexual Awareness Week [5]
Category: Good Omens (TV), The Golden Compass (2007)
Genre: Aro!Lyra, Gen, No Romance, aka the trope where star-crossed souls from other universes meet, and they be the feral children they truly are, star-crossed feral protagonist children meet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 13:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21162128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheesecloth/pseuds/Cheesecloth
Summary: (Series spoilers, for both fandoms).*Edit: I changed the fandom from His Dark Materials to the Golden Compass, because this was written before the series premiered.Adam and the Them meet a very peculiar child during one of their sleepovers after the Nope-ocalypse.





	Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Dodoa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dodoa/pseuds/Dodoa) in the [GenAndAroPrompts](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GenAndAroPrompts) collection. 

Adam’s mother was in worried hysterics, and it piqued the former antichrist’s anxious curiosity.

The Them were hoping for a peaceful weekend of their own little organized chaos now that Adam was no longer grounded. It was going to be a fantastic sleepover. 

Or it was supposed to be. 

Dog sniffed at the door that Adam’s mother had just closed. He made a little half-growl in confusion at the smell of another animal- and yet it wasn’t an animal? 

Ignoring Dog’s strangeness, and the quiet protests of the Them, Adam ventured into the kitchen, where his mother was hastily making his least favorite meal of buttery radishes and meatloaf, topped with carrot slices. 

“Mom?” 

She turned in surprise. 

“Oh Adam, dear! How is your sleepover going? I hope you’re having proper fun, my young boy.” She said distractedly, sprinkling the tiniest bit of pepper over the carrots. Fat load of good that will do. Carrots are an abomination worse than the devil, and he knew personally from his brief meeting with Satan just how unpleasant that whole experience was. The pepper would do nothing to flavor the utter blandness of the feared carrot. He shivered. 

“Yeah, it’s getting on fantastically, mom. Wensleydale brought over some new papers about the stars. Said he got it from Mr. Crowley Fell. You know, the other one.” 

“Oh I could never remember which Fell is which, love. Best just call them both Mr. Fell. Now head on to your room. I’m sure you and the Them would love to continue your little chat.” She pat him on the head, smiling with all her motherly love that had Adam smiling back. 

But his smile faded into confusion when she whisked away the ungodly dish of meatloaf, radish, and carrots to the door she had previously closed. 

With a quick glance back at her son, Adam’s mother disappeared behind the guest room door. 

The Them tip-toed into the kitchen with him. 

“What was all that about?” Brian asked, his whispering not quite on par with the word subtle. 

“Dunno.” Adam said, looking down at Dog, who was snuffling at the door, ears perked like he just smelled a squirrel. It wouldn’t be strange, if it wasn’t for how quiet Dog was now. He wasn’t growling or barking. Just curious. 

“Well I reckon your mother’s up to something,” Pepper hypothesized. 

“Aye,” Wensleydale said, just to be including in the conversation too. 

The four of them tip-toed up to the door in unconscious sync, and placed their ears against the wood. 

From within, they heard a muffled voice that wasn’t mother’s. 

They peered at one another, arguing silently, before three of them left and Wensleydale was left alone at the door, knocking timidly. 

Adam’s mother came almost immediately from the other side of the door. 

“Yes, little Wensley?” 

“M-ma’am! I have come to inquire about…about…er, what we should do in the case of breaking Mr. Young’s telly.” He looked proud of his quick wit, but the other three children slapped an embarrassed hand to their faces. 

Luckily, mother did not hear them. 

“Oh! Oh I hope for your children’s sake that the telly is in no way harmed. Oh you silly kids.” With a put-upon sigh, she hurried away to the telly, and Wensleydale gave the Them the all-clear bird call. It was not at all subtle. 

Adam, the natural leader of the group (though he was practicing democracy among his peers, hoping to never again experience what happened on Doomsday), quietly opened the door. 

Instead of bounding in like Adam expected, Dog stayed put at the door. But his ears were perked up and his gaze was intense. 

“Hullo?” A girl’s voice called from within the guest room. 

The Them all perked up just like Dog, suddenly alert. 

“Hullo?” Adam asked back. 

“Do come in, the light from the hallway is rather blinding.” 

With one last look at one another, the Them walked into the room. 

What they found was a freshly-bathed girl, whose hair was properly brushed (probably by mother, who was rather frantic, as Adam recalled), and was hunched on the bed with a thick blanket enveloping her within. 

“My name is Lyra.” She said. Now that they were closer, the Them could hear the leadership in the girl’s voice. She was someone who had experience in gangs. She probably led her own, wherever she came from. With a flock of children behind her like an army. 

The moment she and Adam locked eyes, something about the stars twinkled brighter. And closer. Like two impossible comets crossing paths and  becoming  the stuff of stars, destined now to orbit around one another in a fine, universe-imploding balance. But this was no tale of romance. This was a tale of two young creatures of blessed yet cursed ethereal light, who had the power to change the fate of their worlds...

“I’m Adam.” 

“I’m Pepper,” said Pepper, who was giving Lyra a cautious once-over as though she can sense the twin power not just from Adam anymore but of this new stranger, before brightening and gesturing to the other two boys. “This is Brian, and this is Wensleydale. Might we ask why you’re here? You’re sort of on our terf.” 

Adam raised a brow. Pepper had a strange way of warming up to people. 

“It was an accident, really. Actually, I’m from another world.” 

“What!” The Them shrieked, suddenly filled with eager wonder. 

“Yeah, I’m from Oxford College. I was coming back from the North Pole when I made it to England, but there was a…portal of sorts. And I’ve had experience with portals. I thought it was Will- but it wasn’t. It’s sort of like Will’s world here, though. No dæmons. Poor Pan’s too shaken up already. ’S why he isn’t out.” 

“What’s a dæmon?” Brian asked. 

“Oh, I’ll show you,” Lyra said. She glared down within the blanket around her, and the Them were astonished to see a red-gold pine marten whisker his way out. 

“Hullo.”

“Woah!” The Them shrieked again. 

Dog sat at Adam’s heel, watching the pine marten glance his way. As their gaze’s locked, something must have gone on in Dog’s head, because he suddenly barked and wagged his tail. Dog dipped into a playful stance, and the pine marten whooped in delight before squirming out of the blanket and launching himself towards the dog. 

“Careful!” Adam worried, “He likes to chase squirrels, and other sorts of small animals-“ 

Dog and the pine marten chased each other around, and Lyra laughed. 

“Pantalaimon wouldn’t do that with just any dog. Your dog must be quite special to you.” 

Adam nodded. “Like he’s a part of my soul.” 

Lyra laughed again, the sound filling the room. Adam’s mother was quietly watching from the door for a moment before walking off in content that the girl she found astray in Tadfield this morning would find easy friends in the Them. 

“Funny you say that. You want to know what a dæmon is? Well, see, you’ve got your souls inside of you.” She glanced at Adam curiously. “Well, most of you. In my world, our souls are outside our bodies, and they take form as dæmons. They walk or swim or  fly among us, and they speak to us. Pantalaimon is quite dear to me.” 

Pan squeaked and smiled at his Lyra before resuming his run from Dog’s excited paws. 

“That’s impossible,” Pepper said matter-of-factly. 

“Yes! It is impossible…in this world! I should get back home. I can’t be away for too long or I’ll fade. I just haven’t felt it yet. It’s actually rather strange.” 

“That’s probably my fault,” Adam said, and they all looked to him. 

“Why’s that, Adam?” Lyra asked. 

“Well, I still have my powers, I should think. This world is still under my protection. No one fades away without my expressed permission. It’s why the angel and demon are still alive.” 

“Angel? Demon?” Lyra inquired. “I’ve met some angels. It wasn’t a happy end for them, but I’m glad the angels here get a happy end. Well, angels and demons.” 

Dog barked again, and mother finally returned. 

“The telly’s not broken, which is good. And I think you’re all acquainted now. Would you like to stay the weekend at least, Lyra? These children have a sleepover, and I’m sure you’ll all get along nicely.” 

“Oh yes we will, ma’am. I quite like them. They remind me of the kids back at Oxford, before the Gobblers made them all scatter home.” 

“Er…what?” Adam’s mother was confused. 

“Oh, it’s alright Mrs. Young. Just silly children things. I would love to stay the weekend!” Her silver tongue had Adam’s mother no longer weary, and the woman smiled at the five children before wishing them great fun. 

Pantalaimon returned to his Lyra, and they embraced quite dearly. The Them loved to pet animals, but for some reason, they felt it was inherently taboo to pet Pantalaimon. And they were right to. He was Lyra’s soul, after all. 

Dog returned to Adam’s heel, and he sat dutifully. 

The children laughed, and they began to tell stories late into the night. The Them recounted the apocalypse in this world, and Lyra recounted the apocalypse of a whole other world. Or many worlds. It was all connected, surely. 

It was one of the best weekends of the Them’s lives. They played fantastic games that Lyra had come up with, and were delighted in how equally feral she was. In fact, she was a tad more wild than the lot of them. They listened eagerly to her tales of talking, armored bears, and according to their captain (Lyra), were throwing mud balls at each other in no time, like there was a war on. It was fantastical. 

The Fells even visited, and it was hilarious to watch them startle and fuss over Lyra’s impossibility before Crowley Fell told them all stories of the stars. Adam asked for his favorite story once more, and Crowley Fell delighted the lot of them, including his husband, in showing them with a minor miracle and some special effects just how he fashioned the nebulas and filled each galaxy with bursting love and star dust. 

Lyra had told them all about Dust, which made the Fells go quiet, but the Them were asking many questions. 

When Lyra had to leave, it was not a sad parting. After all, their worlds were now inexplicably connected (and protected) by Adam. 

They all watched as Lyra and Pantaliamon waved goodbye from the glowing portal before it disappeared in a shroud of golden Dust. 

“Farewell!” 

“Oh!” Brian cried with joy. “I know! Let’s play out Lyra’s adventure!” 

“I want to be Lyra!” Pepper shouted, and she was immediately arguing with Wensleydale, who also wanted to be Lyra. 

Adam watched his Family, and laughed with boyish joy. Dog yipped next to him in his canine agreement. They would be okay. 


End file.
